National conventions have now given two sides of the aisle a primetime opportunity to make their case for their candidate. Both parties did and said what they felt was needed to stir up their base, appeal to core constituencies and rein in undecideds.
First up were the Republicans, whose goal was to define Mitt Romney and show him as more appealing, to spotlight the party’s diversity, to humanize and personalize the need for grownup decision making in dealing with our national deficit and debts as well as to help people appreciate the need for an opportunity society where all can realize their God-given promise and dreams.

Ann Romney helped to humanize and personalize the man she loves. She encouraged Mitt to run for president because she, like so many, believes the country and economy need a good dose of his business acumen.
Condoleezza Rice – without teleprompter – knocked it out of the park in throwing down the gauntlet, defining the need for national security and a foreign policy led from the front not behind.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio of Cuban ancestry gave voice not just to Hispanic aspirations, but to the Romney roots of his father, based in legal immigration from Mexico.
And Mitt Romney defined himself as a devoted husband and family man, a charitable, introspective man with needed business and economic skills.

The take away from the Republican Convention was that “rich” is not a dirty four-letter word but the basis of an ownership society where many “built it,” fueling our economy. Diversity isn’t just about color; it’s also about various socio-economic statuses and communities throughout our nation.
Small businesses and non-governmental entities must be encouraged and trusted to spur our economic growth. Women are the life of the party. And Romney’s first focus will be on helping you take care of your families through a sound economy and jobs with a future.
Romney offered five areas for which he proposed concrete actions: reining in the deficit by targeting regulations; spending controls to 20 percent of the GDP; decreasing taxes on all citizens by 20 percent; opening the nation’s energy stores including developing the pipeline from Canada; and providing more choices in education for children at risk and those below the poverty line.
The Democrats had a more daunting path as their parade was rained on on so many levels. The storm created from taking God from their platform and striking down support for Jerusalem as the capitol of Israel derailed their first day. Try as the convention chairman, L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa might, it was clear by voice vote that two-thirds of the delegation did not agree to reinserting those two planks. Adding this to perceived plat=form language increasingly seen by many as anti-Christian – in support of “abortion on demand,” homosexual rights to marry or expansion of entitlements without defining resources to pay for them and a more leftward shift in philosophy – could cost them with valued constituencies, including blacks, Hispanics, Jews and other religious groups.

Michelle Obama defined her husband Barack Obama in ways that appealed to the base and defended his record of achievements including no-brainers – killing Osama Bin Laden and being a good father.
But the most perplexing choice, yet probably best speaker, was former President Bill Clinton as keynoter. Clinton skillfully tried to deflect blame for Obama’s failures to rescue the economy as had been promised in three years or be a one-term president.
Clinton cloaked himself as a non-significant stakeholder in the housing debacle where he, Barney Frank, Chris Dodd and many others sought to loosen regulations on lending. He may also have been laying the ground for a Hillary Clinton presidential run in 2016. He he tried to make us forget that prior to 9-11 he had Osama Bin Laden in his sights and let him go. And, in the war on women, his extra-marital infidelities were the biggest insult to the fairer sex. Clinton gave one helluva speech as Obama’s defense attorney, though it seemed as long as the one he gave in helping sink Michael Dukakis in 1988.

But the man of the hour was Barack Obama who, in using Clinton as his political shield, also reminded us that, in terms of political acumen, Obama is no Bill Clinton. Obama fell flat in offering the same 2008-type lofty platitudes without providing substance on how these could be achieved.
The sands in the hour glass of time continue to run down. It isn’t just the independents or those on the fence who are up for grabs, now it is up to all of the American people to decide who they want to close the deal for this, a nation in the continuing throes of a multi-layered economic crisis.gggDr. Ada M. Fisher, a physician, is the N.C. Republican National Committeewoman. Contact her at drfisher@dradamfisher.com. She is author of “Common Sense Conservative Prescriptions: Solutions for What Ails Us.”